


Know thy self (Know thy enemy)

by stuckunderwater



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Leah knows better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:29:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuckunderwater/pseuds/stuckunderwater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She wonders if she'll laugh while they're all burning."  Leah goes her own way- and the shock waves will strike everyone.</p><p>(Or: Leah gets an offer and it goes both horribly wrong and horribly right.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Another unexplained bonfire in a dumpster

**Author's Note:**

> This is loosely related to my one-shot [We stand together (I'm falling down)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2497598/chapters/5544245) but exists in a different continuity.

She goes to a small college in a big city now. It's nice- her roommate doesn't bother her, she's studying to be a nurse. She says that she wants to help heal people, not just destroy them.

/*/

The first vampire strike is in the middle of the night. Leah is walking balk to her room when she hears the scream. Before she knows it, she's gone wolf, and she's tearing the vampire to pieces. The blood and violence scare her- not the act, but the fact that she feels deliriously happy doing it. She finishes with a smile, and when she shifts back to normal, pulling on her clothes, that makes her cry.

/*/

She writes Jake and her brother occasionally. Every time she writes Seth, he adds his email address in the letters he sends back. Email me, he writes. It's faster. But that's what she doesn't like about email. She likes knowing that it will take a while for them to get the message. She likes knowing that she doesn't have to write back if she doesn't want to, and there is no way for them to bother her. She likes knowing that she can lie to them, if she wants to.

/*/

The second vampire strike is in the middle of the day. She's hiking alone in the woods (what does she have to fear?) when she runs into a classmate also hiking alone. They make small talk for a little bit, sharing lunches, then head off on their separate ways. Five minutes later, she hears a scream.

By the time she runs back, the vampire is already drinking Jane's blood, Jane's body lying motionless on the ground. She stands there, frozen, as the vampire turns and smiles.

When the fight is done, the pieces of the vampire rustling on the ground as she searches her pack for a lighter, she hears a moan. She turns around to see Jane wriggling.

"Jane?" she says, running to her side. Jane is bleeding from the neck.

"Leah…It burns!" she whispers. "Put the fire out….It hurts!" Jane screams, a sound of pure agony. Leah sits next to her motionless, tears running down her face, as she realizes what she will have to do.

They find Jane's body a week later. A mountain lion did it, they say. A lesson to teach you never to go hiking alone.

/*/

Jake sends a hurried letter. _I'm fine_ , he writes, _but we have to leave town quickly. I'll send you our new address when we get it. Seth says hi._

A seemingly innocent letter, but she knows. She won't be getting an address. In fact, she probably won't hear from Jake ever again.

Sam sends her a letter, too. _They broke it._

Three words. Three words that spell the death of her brother.

/*/

The third vampire strike is at twilight. She's been following the pattern of killings in the newspapers, but hasn't been able to catch the vampire yet. When she catches up, the ensuing fight is quick and brutal. As the Dumpster burns next to her, she sits by it on the ground, head in hands, happiness, panic, and fright overwhelming her.

In the distance she thinks she sees a flash of light. When she goes over to investigate, there is nothing there.

/*/

 _Seth_ , her email says, _wherever you are, whatever you are, doing stay safe. If you ever need to get out, you can come stay with me._

Seth doesn't email her back.

/*/

The fourth vampire strike is at dawn. He is waiting as she takes the shortcut back to her apartment through the alley. He stands there, leaning against the wall, red eyes flashing.

"So you're the little wolf that's been taking my competition down," he says. He smiles. It doesn't reach his eyes.

Leah doesn't bother to say anything, just shifts straight to wolf, clothing bursting to pieces. She growls.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he says, putting his hands up. "You avoid me, I avoid you, it all works out."

There is another unexplained bonfire in a dumpster that night.

/*/

She's starting to get paranoid, she thinks. Every time she steps outside of the house, she thinks she sees something flashing in the distance. It almost feels like something is watching her. She starts taking sleeping pills to go to sleep, but they burn off far too fast with her body.

Leah gets out of the shower, pulling a pair of tattered sweatpants and a blue tank top on. Her doorbell rings. She ties her hair up in a ponytail and opens the door. A man in a dark suit stands outside.

"Are you Leah Clearwater?" he asks. At her nod, he holds out an ID. "My name is John Smith and I work for the FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions."


	2. Oh great and glorious leader

Leah sits at a large oak desk, idly tracing patterns on the desk surface. She glances around, also seemingly idly. Multiple guards, steel plated door covered in cherry wood, no window. This doesn't look good. She glances up at the ceiling and a security camera winks back.

A man in a dark blue suit with a blood-red tie walks in and sits on the other side of the desk. He straightens his tie, then look up, locking eyes with Leah.

"Miss Clearwater, I presume?" he says, smiling. Leah doesn't smile back.

"Yes," she says. "Are you going to give an explanation for why you so rudely dragged me out of my apartment?"

"My name is Adrien Josens, and I am the head of the FBI's supernatural department." Leah's back stiffens, the feeling of a bolt of electricity suddenly running through her veins. "Have you noticed any wolf-like instances recently?"

He knows. He knows. He knows.

"Not that I can think of," she says, her face scrunching up in false confusion, but her voice is shaking.

"Are you sure?" he says, leaning over the desk. "Think back. Maybe we can jog your memory."

"I'm sure," she says. "Can I go now?"

Adrien Josens sighs.

"Miss Clearwater, both you and I are busy people. We don't have time for these sorts of games." When Leah doesn't answer, he continues. "I'd like to offer you a position. We have a force of potential raw power assembled, but we need someone with experience to train them." He pauses, getting up and walking over to stand next to her. His feet make soft thuds on the carpet. "We need someone who knows how to fight them."

"Knows how to fight who, Mr. Josens?" she asks, her face still with a befuddled look upon it.

"You know who," he says. "Think what you may of me, but be assured we take no pleasure from watching our citizens be slaughtered by vicious predators."

"Mr. Josens, I think there has been a mistake. I don't know what you're talking about. May I go now?" she asks. Let me go. Let me go.  
He sighs, once again.

"Very well, but if you change your mind, here is my card." He hands her a glossy white card, blank except for a phone number. "We'll be waiting," he says. She can't tell if that is a promise or a threat.

/*/

She sits on her bed, turning the card over and over in her hands. Many words run through her head: Honor, loyalty, secrecy.

Others run through her head: Revenge, power, strength.

But one word takes precedence over all: Seth.

She picks up the phone.

/*/

They sit there, on a row of chairs in the large room. Four boys, one girl. That was a surprise to her. She thought that she would be the only one.

They sit there, eerily similar to the faces of her former pack. The large boy (Ian), restless- he is just like Paul. The quiet, contemplative one (Elliot)- he is identical to Jared. The two younger boys (Ryan and Kyle), excited to sit there, not realizing what they will be giving up- Brady and Collin.

The girl, Danica, sits there quietly. She doesn't fidget, almost frozen in her silence. Danica has been the strongest supporter of Leah from the beginning. She has been helpful, giving hints on dealing with Ian and helping Leah lead exercises. She is constantly polite and friendly to Leah. And Leah cannot read her at all.  
Danica is dangerous. Danica is a threat.

/*/

"None of them have changed yet?" asks Josens (as Leah calls him in her mind; she is unwilling to refer to him by his first name).

"No," she says, biting her lip. The awkwardness of the first encounter has not changed in the least for the two of them. Leah avoids talking to him if she can, but she has to give regular reports now.

"Maybe if you turned..." he suggests.

"No!" she says, a little too loudly. "No," she says, quietly now.

/*/

Seth, says her email, wherever you are, I can help you. You can leave.

Seth doesn't email back.

/*/

Danica remains in her seat after Leah dismisses all of them. Steeling her face, Leah plasters on a smile and turns to face her.

"Is there a problem?" Leah asks.

"Not yet," Danica says, lounging in her chair.

"Then I'm afraid I don't see why you need to talk to me." Leah turns and starts to walk away.

"They want you to turn," Danica says. Leah freezes. Danica smiles.

"And so what?" Leah says, but her voice shakes.

"I don't think you should."

"What I do is no concern of yours."

"But it could be," Danica says. Her smile turns cold. "Are you confident you would be alpha if you defected?"

Leah stands there, motionless for a second.

"Do you have the bloodline to challenge me?" she asks.

  
"This isn't about that." Danica sits upright in her chair. "They don't want me or you. We know who they want as the alpha. They want Ian."

"And you don't?" Danica stands up, her face close to Leah's now.

"They want someone they can control. They want a pet dog." Her voice turns harsh. "They want someone to bark when they tell them to. You? You're dangerous to them. They want you under Ian's control, under their control."

"What about you?" Leah asks, curious. Danica just shakes her head.

"Don't worry about me. Think about what I said." She gets up and heads towards the door. Right before she exits, she turns around again. "Ian's showing signs. It's time to make your move, oh great and glorious leader."

/*/

Even when she used to shapeshift, she couldn't contact reliably with her pack all the way across the country. After the treaty break, she didn't turn unless she had to, scared of being ordered into a war. Scared of giving away what she was planning.

But today she walks into the woods and changes, leaving herself wide open. _Seth_ , she thinks, _can you hear me?_

She hears a voice-thought, growing louder.

_Leah?_ it asks.

_Seth?_ she asks.

_Who is Seth?_ the voice wonders.

She turns, still in wolf form, to see an unfamiliar wolf come out of the forest.


End file.
